Improvement in sorghum-stbippee



D; HAIN, H. A. GROSS, & M. HAIN Cane-Stripper:

No 65.806. Patented June 18. 1867.

NJETERS. PHOTO-LITHDGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. up,

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DAVID HAlN, HENRY A. GROSS, AND MARTIN HAIN. OF THE COUNTY OF GASCONADE, MISSOURI,

Letters- Patent No. 65,806, dated June 18, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN SORGHUM-STRIPPER.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that we, DAVID I'IATN, and HENRY A. Guess, and Mnn'rrn HAIN, of the county of Gaseonade, and State-of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Sorgl1un1-Stripper; and we do hereby declare that the following is a full and clear description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

Figure 1, of the drawings, is a front elevation of the improvedomachinc.

Figure 2 is a plan of the same. 7

The object of this invention is to-produce a machine that is capable of stripping the leaves from the stalks of sorghum in a very rapid and perfect manner, preparatory to passing the said stalks through a crushing machine.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use our improved machine, we will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is a frame resting upon its legs a, used for the support of the other parts of the machine. 13 is a faceplate, of either metal or wood, fastened to the frame A. This construction is probably the most simple .for a perfect machine; but for a rudely constructed machine, embracing the same general features as the subject of the present description, the frame A may be dispensed with and the face-plate B temporarily secured to some portion of a building or even to posts temporarily set in the ground. There are to be two or more knife-handles, Cc, fastened to the face plate 13 in a permanent manner, as shown in fig. 1, and ex tending upward at an angle of about forty-five degrees (more or less) from the top plane of the face-plate. The top ends of these knife-handles are provided with small knives, c semi-elliptical in form, and of such a-sizc as to embrace about one-half of an ordinary stalk of the cane or sorghum. There are two or more other knife-handles, C c, pivoted to the face-plate at w, and, like the handles C 0, provided with knives 0 similar in size and form to the knives o The knives a are arranged to shut down on top of the knives c", and the two together form, when closed, an elliptical opening between them, for the admission of the stalk to be stripped. One pair of the knife-handles should be placed before the plate B and the other pair behind it, so that the front pair of knives will strip oil any leaves that might be left in the stalk by passing through that portion of the opening between the other knives in which they do not close upon the stalk. The lower ends of the handles C extend below the plate B suflici'ently to be pivoted at as" to the toggle bars D. These toggle bars are pivoted or hinged together, and to the vertical rod 1), at 2: The spring I), attached to the upper end of the rod D, draws the two adjacent ends of the bars D up tightly to the bottom side of the plate 13, and in this posit-ion they act upon the knife-handles C like a toggle-joint, to hold them firmly in position at their lower ends. The treadle D is connected by means of the link d with the bars D at :r'i, and the foot of the operator pressed down upon the said \treadle will depress the inner endsof the bars D and cause them to draw the two lower ends of the handles C towards each other, thereby opening the knives c from the knives c so as to permit the stalk to be stripped to be laid on top of the knives c". There may be a rest, E, at some distance from the knives, so as to hold up the outer end of the stalk when it is first placed upon the knives, preparatory to being stripped of its leaves. The' stalk to be stripped is to be placed with its smaller end between the knives e 0 and then drawn forward through between the knives, which will be closed upon it as soon as the treadlc is released. The knife-handles at c and 0 should be made flexible, so as to allowthcm to spring apart sufficiently to accommodate the increased size' of the stalk as it is drawn forward. In lieu of the spring I) the lever F and weight F may be employed, as shown in fig. 1, for the purpose of raising up the inner ends of the bars 1). This machine may be constructed wholly of metal, or it may be constructed of wood with the exception of the knives c c.

Having described our invention, what we claim is- 1. Two pair of semi elliptical knives, 0 0 one pair of which is to be placed in front ofthe other, sub stantially as described and set forth. p

2. We claim the .flexible handles a e, in combination with the knives c a, for the purpose of allowing the said knives to yield readily to any variation in the size of the stalk passed between them.

3. We claim the knife-handles C and the toggle bars D, when combined as herein described and set forth for the purpose, opening or raising the knives 0".

4. We claim the knifehandles C, the toggle bars '1), the spring D or its equivalent, the rod D, the link 01, and the treadle D", when constructed and arranged substantially as herein described and set forth.

DAVID HAIN, H. A. GROSS,

Witnesses: MARTIN HAIN.

JOHN SULLINS, WILLIAM N. SULLINS; 

